R. Kelly Albums (11)
What The Critics Say
Like most of its predecessors, R. Kelly's eleventh album is stuffed to the gills, with 18-plus songs clocking in at 76 minutes (or longer, depending on which bonus track[s] your edition includes.) And if Double Up is, inevitably, far from flawless, the level of novelty and listenability Kelly manages to sustain for that duration is quite a feat. It makes this his best full-length in years -- arguably his best of the decade -- especially when you consider that its high points -- most notably the singles "I'm a Flirt [Remix]" and "Same Girl" -- rank among the licentious Chicagoan's very finest. Yes, Kelly's familiar, almost cartoonishly overstated brand of sex-obsessed misogyny is as rampant here as his increasingly eccentric humor -- more so than ever, on both counts. So if you're not of a disposition to stomach the 40-year-old (whose still-pending child pornography trial was set to commence several months after the album's release, before being delayed yet again) boasting about his plot to seduce a pair of "freaky" first cousins for a ménage à trois (in the title track), or warning listeners to steer their girlfriends clear of his restlessly prowling libido (in "Flirt": "the moral of this story is 'cuff your chick'"), this could be a painfully long and humorless listen, or worse. But cut the man a little slack, at least on record -- or allow him the indulgence of his already comically blatant perversity (at least he doesn't present himself as someone who expects to be taken very seriously) and it's either an absurd explosion of standard R&B tropes (nightclub bangers, baby-makin' slow jams, overwrought breakup songs) or simply a treasure trove of questionable-taste comedy gold. Actually, those aforementioned scenarios are just the tip of the iceberg, strictly routine in comparison to extended X-rated metaphors -- in the vein of "In the Kitchen" or "Ignition" (the original, not the remix) -- involving jungle animals (the brilliantly nutty, if somewhat misleadingly titled "The Zoo"), dessert ("Sweet Tooth"), and interstellar travel ("Sex Planet"), or hammy, convoluted mini-epics like "Same Girl," the one-sided argument "Real Talk," and the multi-player melodrama "Best Friend" (the closest this album comes to the preposterous serialized histrionics of the apparently endless "Trapped in the Closet" saga.) Subject matter aside (lets not even get into the incongruously inspirational Virginia Tech paean "Rise Up"), there's no denying that Kells is in top form production-wise. His occasional attempts at trend-jumping have somewhat mixed results -- the turgid metal guitars of "Rock Star," featuring Kid Rock; the menacing Southern-style synths of "Rollin'"; the fine but innocuous Caribbean-tinged "Freaky in the Club" -- though it doesn't help that these are also the album's least inspired moments conceptually and melodically. On the other hand, he cops 2007's production gimmick du jour, vocodered R&B vocals (à la T-Pain), to excellent effect on "Leave Your Name," a hilarious slice of lifestyle-boasting-as-overly-detailed-voice mail-message. But when he sticks to his somehow perennially fresh style of lush, laid-back, semi-organic, mid-tempo grooves, he's both unmistakable and untouchable. Even the album's parade of A-list guest stars (among them Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Chamillionaire, T.I., Ludacris, and Keyshia Cole), though it does help to keep things interesting, never threatens to overshadow the musical and vocal smoothness, and perversely compelling lyricism of the main event. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
TP.3 Reloaded is thematically opposite to Happy People/U Saved Me. The first hour of the album is mostly about getting rowdy and getting it on, full of some of the clumsiest and lewdest lyrics R. Kelly has written. Funniest of all is the relatively tame "Kickin' It With Your Girlfriend," where Kelly apologizes to his woman for cheating on her, says he didn't mean to cause pain, proceeds to tell her about all about the affair, and in a roundabout way suggests that it's her fault for allowing him to cross paths with her girlfriend. With one or two exceptions, all of these songs are second and third rate by his standard. And then there's the other part of TP.3. In an apparent move to deflect long-running criticisms that his songs have no depth, he has crafted a ten-chapter saga titled "Trapped in the Closet" -- a rolling narrative inspired by radio plays that doesn't contain a single vocal hook. The first five chapters conclude the album. Over a plain arrangement that swells with each rise in the action, Kelly weaves a tangled tale that he says is a "ghetto Desperate Housewives." Its over-the-top dramatics, unlikely actions, and inexplicable non-actions place it closer to Melrose Place. For instance, despite the gun in his hand, the antsy protagonist fails to bail from the heated standoff with his paramour and her on-the-down-low pastor-husband. He pulls a Michael Mancini; he stays put. None of this means that "Trapped in the Closer" isn't entertaining or eventful, even if it's an event mostly due to the maker. These first five chapters made a big impact on radio and spurred lots of debate and analysis, and they'll deflect attention away from TP.3's shortcomings. [Some copies of the album came with a DVD containing the longform video for the first five chapters of "Trapped in the Closet."] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Unfinished Business is the sequel to 2002's The Best of Both Worlds, R. Kelly and Jay-Z's first collaborative record. The press materials made a point to refer to these 11 songs as "previously unreleased," as opposed to "new," suggesting that they are leftovers from the same sessions that yielded The Best of Both Worlds. Further support for this speculation: the two records share much of the same personnel and recording locations, and the later release has even fewer bright spots than the initial one. Plus, this release coincided with a joint R. Kelly/Jay-Z tour that was initially supposed to take place two years prior. Once again, just hearing these two voices on the same record should be enough of an attraction for die-heard fans of either one, but the bright spots are harder to come by. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
R. Kelly was hardly a stranger to controversy in the early 2000s. In addition to being hit with 21 counts of child pornography in Chicago and 12 more in Polk County, FL, the beleaguered singer/producer faced various sex-related civil suits. All those scandals have, at times, overshadowed his music, which is regrettable because Chocolate Factory has a lot going for it. Emphasizing romantic slow jams, and not as ambitious or risk-taking as 1998's R. -- which is arguably Kelly's best, most essential release despite its own imperfections -- Chocolate Factory, like 2000s TP-2.Com, tends to play it safe. But that doesn't mean Chocolate Factory is without merit; what it lacks in ambition, it makes up for in terms of quality and craftsmanship. Many of the influences that have served Kelly well on previous efforts continue to serve him well on this 2003 release; influences that range from the Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder to Prince, Babyface, and hip-hop. All of those influences were noticeable on Kelly's '90s albums, and they are still noticeable on Chocolate Factory. Nonetheless, Kelly has always been his own man; that is especially obvious when he features Ronald Isley on "Showdown" (not to be confused with the Isley Brothers' 1978 recording). Hearing Kelly and Isley side by side, listeners can easily see how Kelly is able to draw on Isley's influence while projecting a firm, recognizable identity of his own. One hopes that in the future, Kelly will come out with some more albums that are as challenging as R.; even so, Chocolate Factory will go down in history as a solid and pleasing, if somewhat predictable, addition to the Chicagoan's catalog. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'The Best of Both Worlds'
Release Date 3/18/2002
Tracks 26
Label Jive
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Both R. Kelly and Jay-Z were flying high around the time of The Best of Both Worlds, so the idea of a collaborative album was a reasonable one, following up the success of The Blueprint (2001) and TP-2.com (2000). Unfortunately, Jay-Z's contributions (interjections and verses, mainly) sound like filler on The Best of Both Worlds, although Kelly fares better, supplying some potent hooks and co-producing the tracks with the Trackmasters (i.e., Poke and Tone), but he can't carry the album alone. Still, there are some moments where the collaborations click, particularly on the album's singles, "Get This Money" and "Take You Home with Me." ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
R. Kelly tames his ambitions a bit on TP-2.Com, assembling a simple sequel to his classic 12 Play album from 1993 rather than another epic venture like his double-disc, all-bases-covered R. album from 1998. The straightforwardness is somewhat of a welcome endeavor. As breathtaking as had been R. -- an album that straddled the huge gap between the sort of radio pop associated with Celine Dion as well as the street rap of Jay-Z and Nas -- it also seemed too overblown at times, as if Kelly had something to prove during an era of double-disc epic rap albums. So to see him return to the simple singles approach of 12 Play is refreshing, particularly since he has plenty of singles to work with here, just as he had with TP-1. Kelly furthermore unleashes his singles -- "I Wish," a mass-appeal vocal pop number with an urban edge; "Fiesta," a Latin Invasion cash-in that aims for the dancefloor; and "Feelin' on Yo Booty," a whispery come-on for all the weak-kneed ladies and some of the mindful ones too -- with tailor-made remixes to ensure himself broad airplay. Only one of those remixes is here though, the "I Wish" one, so take heed. There's no Jay-Z-featuring remix of "Fiesta" and no up-tempo one of "Feelin' on Yo Booty," yet TP-2.Com is a strong album nonetheless, three steps ahead of practically every other non-rap urban album from 2000. It does seem like Kelly is coasting a bit here at times, though, particularly when you hold TP-2.Com up against its massive predecessor, but even when R's lounging, he's generally ahead of the pack. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
At the beginning of the '90s, R. Kelly was seen as a lewd, lascivious soulman. By the end of the decade, he had stripped those adjectives away and was seen as a contemporary equivalent of Marvin Gaye, thanks to the enormous success of "I Believe I Can Fly." Appropriately, R., the double-disc album that followed "I Believe I Can Fly"'s parent album, finds Kelly trying to live up to that legacy. He may be talented, but he has neither the vision nor the depth to match such classic soulmen as Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Prince, or Michael Jackson, all artists he emulates on R. Kelly's main strength is fusing contemporary material together into a slick, palatable, radio-ready record. Nobody else could have Jay-Z and Celine Dion on his album, and he's about the only one who could make it work, since he can work sensuous grooves as well as he can deliver a soaring ballad. To some, this may sound like nothing more than calculation -- a big part of the reason why he doesn't instantly enter the hall of greats -- because it's easy to see how he pieces it all together. When he's on, however, such calculation doesn't really matter, since it all flows, but such incidents only occur through about 40 percent of R. That's a major problem, considering the sheer length of the album. Clocking in at 29 long tracks, it takes real effort to sit through the record from beginning to end, especially since Kelly begins to repeat himself. If it was pruned a bit, the album would arguably be his best. As it stands, R. is an admirable effort, one that is among his better records even with all of its faults. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With the salacious 12 Play, R. Kelly established himself as one of the top R&B hitmakers of the mid-'90s, rivalled only by Babyface and Dr. Dre for overall consistency. 12 Play was marred by occasionally slight tunes which were obscured by the explicit sexuality of the lyrics. R. Kelly isn't hampered by those flaws, although it isn't a perfect record by any means. Throughout the album, Kelly relies on melody and grooves instead of overtly carnal imagery. But that doesn't mean he has cleaned up -- Kelly remains a sly, seductive crooner, and his sexiness is more effective when it is suggestive. Nevertheless, his lyrics and music are never subtle -- even on the ballads which dominate this album -- which can make R. Kelly tiresome if taken as a whole. Taken as individual songs, the album works better than anything he has recorded to date. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
R. Kelly's debut album with Public Announcement from a year earlier, Born into the 90s, had been a fine new jack swing album, but it hardly foreshadowed the astonishing heights the all-around amazing producer/songwriter/singer summits on 12 Play, a likewise all-around amazing album with a little bit of something for everyone. There are a couple moments on 12 Play that are reminiscent of Born Into the 90s, specifically the sung-rapped ones: "Freak Dat Body" and "Back to the Hood of Things." These tend to be the least interesting of the 12 songs here, however, and their intermittent, mid-album sequencing is perhaps no coincidence. Rather, it's the swooning balladry of "Honey Love," a late-album gem from Born Into the 90s, that Kelly reprises to great success throughout 12 Play. The decision to do away with Public Announcement for the most part here is a wise one, as Kelly seems to have a real gift for late-night come-ons as well as elaborately produced musical accompaniment that's similarly alluring, as evidenced on the album-opening "Your Body's Callin'." This gentle song's inescapable pleading is then followed by another absolutely brilliant four minutes of tantalization, "Bump n' Grind," which eases in some throbbing beats to perhaps nudge up the intensity level a bit. From here, Kelly changes positions often, lightening up the mood a bit on songs like "It Seems Like Your Ready" and "For You" that seem intended for the slow-to-warm while also getting a bit nasty on songs like "Freak Dat Body" and "Summer Bunnies" that seem intended for the fast-and-wild. He then returns to pure brilliance for the album's final climax: the breathless, 12-minute "Sex Me" and the lovely album-closing title track. What's most wonderful about 12 Play isn't Kelly's mostly dreamy, occasionally dirty, always enrapturing rhetoric, nor his likewise arousing mood music; rather, it's his precise ability to tie them together so perfectly. This guy really is a genius, and no matter whether you find him fantastic or perverse, you have to marvel at his ability to do everything so masterfully. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
